Up here in the northeast we go got hit pretty hard with COVID-19, so my local club shut down the message boards and eliminated scheduled trips. Now Rhode Island is a little further along in it’s reopening plan than our neighbors in MA or CT, so our club just opened the message boards to ad-hoc trips. There is a good chance we will allow scheduled trips on the calendar next month. Just wondering what other clubs are doing. I know lots of people have continued to paddle individually and in small groups, but wondering if other clubs are opening up.
Not here in CT yet. Sea Kayak club here also closed it BB to setting up paddles, and doesn’t have a schedule. Those of us who still paddle, do small groups of friends by email. Might stay that way for a while from the looks of things.
Our club is coordinated through a larger conservation group, and larger group dictated that there should be no organized paddles this year. But a smaller subset of 15 or so paddlers is still organizing weekly paddles. Those paddles are not advertised to the general public - only known to an email list of the ~15 people.
The ACA recently published their instructors and events guidelines. They may be helpful for this discussion.
Here is a link:
https://www.americancanoe.org/page/COVID19Guidelines
I saw that - we were surveying other groups to see what they were doing. Seems like RI is quite a bit further ahead then CT.
I am also involved with a club that is loosely associated with the park service - I don’t think that group will open this year. Even as things reopen around here, I’m still OK with informal paddles with a small group of friends arranged in private by email - I have older parents, so I am pretty careful.
Lots of good information, but I thought the best link was to the COVID pages at
http://www.paddlesafely.com/covid-19/
Don’t know who these guys are, but lots of good information.
In NorCal, the 2 clubs I am a part of both stopped official club trips at about the same time as the shelter in place rules happened. One made the membership list available so that members could do non-club trips with others if they felt appropriate - the other already had ways for members to access the membership list. So some folks continued to paddle in generally small groups.
Became a bit moot as most launch locations closed, unless you could walk your boat to them. So paddling opportunities went away due to lack of access.
Launch locations are starting to open here. And even some of the rental sites are also opening. So I suspect the clubs may start doing club paddles at some point. One club does an annual 6 weekend intensive training over the summer which they just canceled for this year. Where paddling as a group with social distance is likely safe, there is still a lot of concern over assisted rescues and how to socially distance.
Local paddle group of the ADK decided no group paddles for at least the next cycle of the statewide newsletter. I don’t fully recall the last official status for August but I think no one was comfortable leading group paddles until a revisit in September. Landings are open but no group sanctioned stuff.
That said, every county east, north and nw of Albany County meets the criteria for not having to do a quarantine if going to Vermont. Numbers are down and with luck will keep going that way. By late August the issue is more likely to be personal comfort and tolerance for masks while doing activities. I am one of most l know who don’t see a full return until most people have gotten a vaccine.
Testing, which would help, is getting better. We have more capacity in the Capital District than is being used, l had no problem talking myself into a test last week even though l am w/o symtoms and had a nonstandardreason why. VT is testing asymptomatic now and I think most of upstate NY is not far off.
Seakayakers paddled two days last weekend on the Wake is river, an overnight. Meetings are on zoom. Another paddle Tuesday on Black Creek.
Canoe club is right now coming home from paddling the narrows at Okefenokee swamp. Meetings on zoom.
LOAPC organizes meetings and events through MeetUP with a limited number of Admins able to create an event. The Stay at Home order came out a few days before our March meeting and official club events have been off until last weekend. At that time gatherings of 10 or less with precautions were allowed and we did a no shuttle up & back paddle. We had two groups - one of 9 & one of 6 paddlers. We are also starting up Monday night paddles at Lake Lansing. I’ve been out solo a number of times and done a couple of no shuttle paddles or hikes with a friend.
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While there are no paddling clubs in my area, I did check the Traverse Area Paddle Club website and it lists a number of scheduled events starting in May and ongoing for the rest of the summer. There was no mention of anything being canceled.
A symposium held on Lake Huron and another on Georgian Bay were canceled as well as all guided trips on Lake Superior. The Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium at Grand Marais on Lake Superior is going forward July 15-19, but with some changes like a four-point health check each day, moving the meeting and dining areas out of the barn to an outdoor tent, masks required when physical distancing not possible (but not on the water) plus other steps to comply with ACA, state and CDC guidelines. Also limited to 50 participants and no kids in 2020.
While Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula are just about fully back to business, I’m a solo paddler and have been out regularly since April. One downside is that the two NOAA buoys I rely on are still not operational.
and, checking the Calendar for trips over the previous few months and prev year for comparison
2020 2019
Jan 5 7
Feb 7 8
Mar 5 8
Apr 6 5
May 7 6Yup - I can see rescues being a big issue for sea kayakers. I bought a polyester neck gaiter that is a little more practical on the water, still who wants to get involved in that. For us whitewater paddlers, it is the inability to shuttle that has killed most trips.
Both of the clubs I primarily paddle with, one in Wisconsin (Mad City Paddlers) and Florida (Tampa Bay Sea Kayakers) are now scheduling outings. Slow start, not a lot of postings yet. Most common are still close friends doing meetups, not scheduled. On the water less risk, it’s the landings where there are more precautions.
Both look like nice clubs. I was thinking it would be OK for my club RICKA to go that way, then I looked at the numbers again. MA and RI are 3rd and 4th in cases and deaths per 1,000 - only NY and NJ are higher. CT is 6th in cases and 5th in deaths. I’m starting to think we are not ready yet, but I’m not the only vote. There is a lot of pent up demand for trips. A message board paddle hit the 15 person max in a couple of days. I opted to keep my circle small and paddle with the same small group that I have been. This was us last week:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eckilson/albums/72157714613954533
MITA is not posting any trips this summer in Maine. Meetup (which they use) is recommending on-line activities only at this time and they decided to follow that protocol. As an AMC leader, we are still waiting for guidelines on starting group activities again. As a senior, I’m a bit worried about taking people I don’t know on any activity. I may decide to only invite people I know to join me. I don’t want to have to help rescue someone and have to be face to face with them and not have time to put on a mask or ask them to put one on when they are in a panic. Our numbers are low in Maine and we hope to keep it that way. With more tourists heading up our way, who knows what will happen later.
Knubble Bay Camp (AMC) won’t be operating in 2020.
The 14 day self quarantine is putting some off that have to come from out of state as well as the closure of dine in facilities in three counties. Seasonal residents in our town have returned and our area count is near 0 ( I think one town has 1)
Canada looks like it is keeping borders closed till at least the end of July. But Canadians can fly to the US for recreational purposes. Not by car.
All the regulations that differ can drive one batty.
I am doing a two week trip with a self shuttle. The extra work is worth it to me. I think the shuttles and the accommodations are more of a hassle to deal with than a potential rescue though that is not without risk either.
I keep waiting for the AMC to post guidelines on volunteer trips. I have a hard time thinking of myself as a senior, but I will turn 60 next month. Like you I am leaning towards invitation only trips, if I post trips at all.
I understand that you can’t have the same rules for hard-hit urban areas and relatively unaffected rural areas (you see that in ME), but the lack of consistant rules is a pain. I used to regularly paddle in 4 states - RI, MA, CT and NH (and occasionally ME and VT), and there is no way I could keep track of the restrictions (whose open whose closed) in all those states. I’m guessing that is part of the issue for the AMC.